Featured TV on DVD Review: Clifford: Best Buddies
January 30, 2011
Clifford the Big Red Dog: Best Buddies - Buy from Amazon
This is the first time I've reviewed Clifford, so first a little recap of the show. Clifford is based on a series of books that were first published in the 1960s and focus on the adventures of Clifford, a giant-sized and very friendly dog. We see him with his group of dog friends, as well as his owner, Emily Elizabeth, and her human friends.
The extras include six Speckles short stories. Each are about 90 seconds long, so there are a total of 9 minutes of extras. That's not a huge amount, but better than average for this type of release.
Clifford the Big Red Dog: Best Buddies has three episodes worth of material, but because there are no commercials when it airs on PBS, and with extras, its actually longer than most similar preschool shows. If your kids are fans of this big red dog, it is worth picking up.
On a side note, if love made Clifford grow so large, does that mean tiny dogs are hated? That's a good segue to my next review.
The Show
Cleo, a friendly if somewhat self-centered poodle, is returning for vacation. While Clifford, T-Bone, and Manny wait for her ferry to come in, they reminisce about the first time she came to Birdwell Island.
It's founders day and there's going to be a huge fireworks display, but not everyone is looking forward to it. In fact, T-Bone is quite scared of loud noises. Clifford and Cleo try and help him overcome his fears, with mixed results.
After Emily Elizabeth and Clifford bump into Jetta and her dog Machiavelli, they learn about a photographer coming to the island to find the cover dog for a fancy magazine. Clifford wants to win the prize for Emily Elizabeth, so he is determined to stay nicely groomed. But he also wants to play with his friends digging for big bones at the beach.
Jetta has writers block and can't come up with anything to say in her journal. When she decides to peek into Emily's journal, to get some ideas, she see that Emily is going to Hawaii, but can only bring one friend. She's determined to be that friend.
Emily and Jetta are going to go to Seal Cove to see all of the baby seals, but when Jetta is invited to go with Jenny Winkle Woopie World instead, she bails on Emily. But while Emily is having fun with Clifford and the seals, Jetta's waiting for Jenny. And waiting. And waiting.
It's Saturday and T-Bone is looking forward to spending the day with his owner, Sheriff Lewis, as its his day off. Unfortunately, Sheriff Lewis has to go into work and T-Bone is devastated. For the rest of the day, T-Bone and Clifford see how the rest of the island spend their Saturdays.The Extras
The Verdict
- Submitted by: C.S.Strowbridge
Filed under: Video Review